Aoyama

Chapter 394 The Five Witches' Army
The defeat of Emperor Taizu of Ning in Luocheng was a popular story in all the teahouses of Ning Dynasty.

According to a storyteller, Emperor Taizu was only twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old at the time, yet he already displayed extraordinary talent and courage that could rival ten thousand men.

On that occasion, the Northern Wei emperor personally led an expedition, with banners obscuring the sun and horses neighing. With a massive force of 80,000 men, he forced Emperor Taizu to hastily retreat from Luoyang.

The Northern Wei army pursued relentlessly, leaving Emperor Taizu with no choice but to lead a 300-strong elite force as the rearguard to cover the retreat of his main army into Wubei City.

In the official history of the Ning Dynasty, when the enemy general led his cavalry in pursuit, Emperor Taizu drew his bow with both hands, and the pursuing soldiers fell to the ground, causing the main army to retreat in alarm.

In the teahouse tales, a new general named Zhou Huaijin was added to the story.

The storyteller recounted that when Zhou Huaijin reached the peak of the Seeking Dao Realm and faced his pursuers, his white robes were stained with blood. He stepped forward in a divine procession, and a hemp rope in his hand shot into the sky like a living dragon. Suddenly, the clear sky churned with clouds, and a white dragon with scales and claws formed from flowing clouds descended from the sky. Its tail swept away a hundred-foot-long number of pursuers, and its roar caused the Northern Wei warhorses to collapse and kneel!

After retreating into Wubei City.

At that time, the Taizu Emperor, who was not yet the Taizu Emperor, stood on the city wall of Wubei and laughed loudly: "Look at that old Tuoba, cowering in the dragon carriage! The Zhou brothers' method should not be called 'walking the tightrope,' from now on it shall be called 'dragon-leading,' leading that foolish emperor by the nose!"

"If we brothers join forces, even a rope can bind a true dragon!"

However, before establishing the Ning Dynasty, Emperor Taizu felt that the name "Qianlong" was full of vigor and spirit. But after he established the Ning Dynasty and became emperor, he felt that the name "Qianlong" was awkward.

Emperor Taizu hosted a banquet for Zhou Huaijin at the Jinling Palace. During the banquet, drunken crabs from Dongting Lake were served in glass goblets. Emperor Taizu lightly tapped the golden goblets with his fingertips and said, “Huaijin, recently, the old story of ‘dragon-leading’ has been mentioned in popular folk tales. To me, it’s as if the dragon in the clouds is the main character?”

Zhou Huaijin's hand holding the chopsticks paused slightly, and he bowed his head in response: "Your Majesty, I am terrified. My crude trick back then was originally called 'tightrope walking,' and I was fortunate enough to be given a fine name by protecting Your Majesty... However, there can only be one sun in the sky, how can the people presumptuously call it 'dragon pulling'?"

The following day, the memorial requesting the restoration of the names of the rope walking paths was presented to the emperor.

The imperial edict contained only one word: "Approved".

The ink was dripping, as red as blood.

Human nature has always been this way, a thousand years ago and a thousand years later, it remains unchanged. But the phrase "dragon-pulling" has long been widely circulated among the people, and its influence cannot be stopped.

In the ninth year of his reign, Zhou Huaijin was imprisoned for making reckless remarks while drunk. Three years later, he was released and returned to his hometown to live as a wealthy man, which can be considered a rare peaceful end.

……

……

At this moment, in Plum Valley, Zhou Kuang stood holding a hemp rope, with the flower-leaf dragon following the rope, single-handedly shattering the incoming crossbow bolts into dust.

The assassins surrounding the Flower-Leaf Dragon were unwilling to give up. They rode around them, firing arrows incessantly, but failed to harm a single one. After the wooden arrow shafts shattered, they were coiled up by the dragon and became part of its body, while the iron arrowheads fell to the ground like a rain.

Prince Fu clapped his hands in praise and said, "Zhou Kuang is incredibly brave! When you return to the capital, I must offer you two cups of wine!"

Zhou Kuang calmly replied, "Three cups."

Prince Fu laughed heartily: "Ten cups!"

Yangyang watched Zhou Kuang stealing the spotlight in the distance and muttered under his breath, "Damn it, it's only because a man's skills aren't suited to shield others that he stole the limelight."

At this point, Yangyang sighed with regret: "Such a capable man should be fighting alongside me on the battlefield. If we had his skills at Chongli Pass in the 25th year of the Jianing era, we would have been able to stop Yuan Henglizhen, the commander of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. How can such a man be left to guard the homes of officials and nobles? He should all be in my Long Live Army!"

Zhang Zheng chuckled and said, "That's His Highness Prince Fu, not an ordinary official."

Sheep said impatiently, "Is there a difference? They're all the same!"

Zhang Xia explained in a low voice, "Zhou Kuang did not willingly submit himself to Prince Fu's side. He served in the Five Armies Camp in his early years. Later, he killed prisoners in the Battle of Chicheng and was impeached by the censor, losing his official position."

Yangyang was taken aback: "He did the Chicheng incident? There's no right or wrong in this matter. If I were him, I would have done the same. These censors are just idle, and there are also those eunuchs from the Jiefan Guard and the Secret Intelligence Bureau, always looking after us and causing trouble."

He then looked at Chen Ji: "That brat from the Chen family, you've come to my Long Live Army. The Imperial Guard is not a place for you."

Qi Zhenzhuo suddenly asked, "Can I go?"

"You?" Yangyang looked him up and down: "The Qi family wants you to go? Hehe, I heard about your plan to go to Korea with Mr. Wang a while ago. You Qi family members should just stay in the capital."

Qi Zhenzhuo's expression darkened.

Chen Ji ignored Yangyang and turned to look at Zhou Kuang.

Zhou Kuang showed neither joy nor sorrow, nor any hint of pride on his face. The flower-leaf dragon was dissipating, indicating that Zhou Kuang was nearing exhaustion.

Chen Ji looked down again and suddenly saw a crossbow bolt that had fallen to the ground, its tip gleaming with a dark blue hue in the sunlight.

He instinctively exchanged a glance with Zhang Xia: "No, the crossbow bolt is poisoned!"

poison? !

They were just saying that the assassins didn't poison the crossbow bolts because the mastermind only wanted to kill Chen Ji and didn't want to accidentally kill Zhang Xia. But now the assassins have returned and poisoned the crossbow bolts again: their brief departure was to make thorough preparations for a desperate attack upon their return.

That's strange. Aren't they afraid of accidentally killing someone?
No, the question now is not whether Zhang Xia will die, but rather: Chen Ji is so close to the Crown Prince now that when the assassins swarm him, they could also kill the Crown Prince.

The poison on this arrow is fatal; anyone who touches it will die. How can the Crown Prince guarantee his survival? Does the Crown Prince possess an antidote?
Even if there is an antidote, how will the crown prince explain to the court that he has an antidote?
There's no way to explain it.

Chen Ji's mind raced as he silently turned to observe the Crown Prince. But at that moment, not only did he notice the poison on the arrowhead, but Mr. Liao did as well.

Mr. Liao's expression suddenly changed, and he shouted, "The arrow is poisoned! Protect His Highness the Crown Prince!"

As they spoke, Mr. Liao grabbed two of the Crown Prince's close attendants by the collar and pulled them in front of the Crown Prince, fearing that a poisoned arrow might fly by and harm the Crown Prince.

Chen Ji felt a chill run down his spine: Whose people are these assassins? Could they really be here to assassinate the Crown Prince and Prince Fu?

At this moment, Zhou Kuang pulled the rope back into his hand, and the flower-leaf dragon suddenly scattered, falling to the ground like a torrential rain.

Everyone looked closely and saw that outside the forty-odd assassins, there were two assassins wearing straw raincoats and bamboo hats, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Before the two men stood a small stone altar, each about the size of a palm, its contents unknown. Around the altars were runes formed from fresh blood, and the stench of blood wafted through the air with each gust of wind.

The two men bent down and cut their wrists, dripping the blood into the jar.

Then, the two stood up, raised their hands above their heads in a gesture of respect, and performed a kneeling bow.

Suddenly, a burst of flame erupted from the stone altar, shooting skyward. The flames conjured eerie figures of thousands of troops in the air, as if they were about to charge out of the fire.

The flames lingered in the air, and the soldiers within them wore bone masks; some carried spears, some carried bows and arrows, and some carried ropes...

The white bones were hideous.

These soldiers charged wildly through the flames, seemingly trapped within them and unable to escape.

Yangyang's expression changed, and she asked urgently, "Ah Xia, what kind of method is this? I've never seen it before."

Zhang Xia carefully examined the skeletal soldiers in the flames and said in a deep voice, "I've only ever seen the Five Witch Soldiers in shadow paintings: the Five Witch Soldiers who collect souls and establish prohibitions, the Five Witch Soldiers who hunt in the mountains, the Five Witch Soldiers who seal their swords and set their bones, the Five Witch Soldiers who befriend the Five Witch Soldiers in the Southern Mountains, and the Five Witch Soldiers who sacrifice chickens for blood..."

"The Five Witches' Army? So that's what they are! How come this thing is still around?" Yangyang said angrily, "Young man Chen, I heard that the stone altar can't be moved. Shoot it without holding back!"

Chen Ji drew his bow and shot, but he drew the bow like a full moon, hooked two fingers on the bowstring and suddenly released it, the arrow flew out of the bowstring with a deafening sound.

The arrow flew like a meteor, heading straight for the stone altar.

But the two officers suddenly looked up, their faces beneath their straw hats displaying eerie smiles, as if victory was assured.

The assassins who had been hunting Chen Ji earlier suddenly rode forward to block the arrow. Chen Ji's arrow struck one of the assassins, piercing his chest and remaining inside his body.

Chen Ji remained expressionless and continued to shoot arrow after arrow until he had fired all eleven arrows from his quiver. When he touched the quiver again and found it empty, he finally stopped.

Arrows rained down on the stone altar like a string of pearls. The assassins stood in front of the altar, and the arrows pierced through one assassin after another until they blocked all the arrows with their bodies.

The arrow pierced his heart, and the assassin sat on his horse with his head bowed.

But then the two officers holding the rear shouted in low voices, "We beseech you to personally lead your elite troops to overturn altars and ruin temples, to stir up sand and stones, to take away the souls of the living and cut off any future troubles. This matter is urgent and cannot be delayed!"

"rise!"

In an instant, the flames in the air surged like meteorites, with clusters of flames separating from them and entering the bodies of the dead warriors.

The assassin, who had clearly been pierced through the heart by Chen Ji's arrow, suddenly raised his head, his face ashen, his eyes burning with fire.

More than sixty already dead assassins simultaneously reached into their chests and forcefully broke off a rib, pulling it out of their bodies. The rib twisted and grew back, transforming into a white bone mask.

The assassins wore skeletons on their faces and then broke off a rib from their chests. Some ribs grew into spears, some into bows, and some into broadswords.

The assassins, clad in white bones, stood silently. The leader, holding a large sword upside down, slowly rode up to the two officers and asked from his superior position, "We know your wishes. Do you know the price for summoning us?"

The two officers knelt on the ground, not daring to raise their heads: "We know."

"Good!" The soldier who had sealed his sword and set his bones raised his broadsword high and brought it down heavily, causing the heads of the two officers to roll.

Sheep was dumbfounded: "This is fucking weird!"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than sixty Wu Chang soldiers turned around and looked over. They spurred their horses and charged forward: "Kill!"

(End of this chapter)